TEMPORARY PROMOTIONS OF U.S. ARMY OFFICERS: A BRIEF OVERVIEW

U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center Historical Services Division

TEMPORARY PROMOTIONS OF U.S. ARMY OFFICERS: A BRIEF OVERVIEW

Conrad C . Crane, PhD Chief, Historical Services Division

Jessica J. Sheets Research Historian

Michael E. Lynch, PhD Senior Historian

Shane P. Reilly Contract Research Analyst

THE UNITED STATES ARMY WAR COLLEGE

U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center Historical Services Division

Prepared By: Conrad C. Crane, PhD Chief, Historical Services Division

Jessica J. Sheets Research Historian

Michael E. Lynch, PhD Senior Historian

Shane P. Reilly Contract Research Analyst

Temporary Promotions of U.S. Army Officers: A Brief Overview

Title V, Section 503 of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) authorizes the temporary promotion of "officers in certain grades with critical skills." A first lieutenant, captain, major, or lieutenant colonel in the Army may be temporarily promoted to the next rank, "under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the military department concerned." The President will make the appointment "by and with the advice and consent of the Senate." To receive such an appointment, officers must have a skill that the Army deems in shortage; be in a position designated for a captain, major, lieutenant colonel, or colonel; and have the skills required for the position. The Secretary of the Army determines if those three criteria are met and will convene a board to approve or disapprove the promotion.1

A temporary promotion does not alter that officer's "position on the active-duty list or the permanent, probationary, or acting status of the officer so appointed, prejudice the officer in regard to other promotions or appointments, or abridge the rights or benefits of the officer." Temporary promotions, and the associated pay and allowance increases, take effect on the date of appointment. The temporary promotion ceases upon permanent promotion, or when the officer no longer fills the position that required the temporary promotion (unless the officer is on a promotion list, in which the temporary appointment will cease when the permanent promotion takes effect). There

1 2019 NDAA, 105. 1

are a limited number of temporary promotions available per rank: to captain, 120; major, 350, lieutenant colonel, 200; and colonel, 100.2

Promotion situations similar to today's temporary promotions have existed throughout Army history. During the Civil War (1861-1865), officers could receive a brevet, or honorary, promotion, for valor or meritorious service. Such promotions compare to receiving a valor award today; an awards system as we know today was not in place during the Civil War. Article 61 of the 1806 Articles of War allowed breveted officers, in a regiment based ranking system, to carry the authority of their breveted rank "in courts martial and on detachments when composed of different corps," but they could not carry the authority of their breveted rank within their own unit.3

A brevet promotion usually did not provide any additional authority or pay, but the breveted officer could use the rank in correspondence. A well-known example of a brevet promotion is Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, breveted to major general by President Abraham Lincoln after being wounded again and nearly captured in a skirmish in March 1865. Brevet promotions ceased in 1869, partly due to hard feelings that too many brevets had been awarded at the end of the Civil War. Brevet promotions were resurrected, however. The 1911 Military Laws of the United States noted that the President had the authority to confer brevet promotions, and only by Presidential authority could an officer command at that rank. Brevets became obsolete shortly after World War I.4

However, World War I saw use of temporary promotions. George S. Patton, for example, was promoted to captain in May 1917. Three days later he was designated commander of Headquarters Troop, American Expeditionary Forces. In November, he

2 2019 NDAA, 105-106. 3 In 1862 the Medal of Honor was first authorized for Soldiers who distinguished themselves in battle. It was the only medal available, hence the need for brevet promotions as a means of awarding valor. Medals as awards became much more prevalent in World War I. 1806 Articles of War, . "Officers having brevets or commissions of a prior date to these of the regiment in which they serve, may take place in courts martial and on detachments when composed of different corps, according to the ranks given them in their brevets or dates of their former commissions, but in the regiments, troop, or company to which such officers belong, they shall do duty and take rank both in courts-martial and on detachments which shall be composed of their own corps, according to the commissions by which they are mustered in the said corps." 4The Military Laws of the United States, fourth edition, 1911, 210, 503-504.

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was "detailed to the Tank Service." In January 1918, he was promoted to temporary major, in March to temporary lieutenant colonel, and in October to temporary colonel (he had been wounded in September in the Meuse-Argonne). In the post-war demobilization, Patton reverted to his last permanent rank, captain, in June 1920. However, his next permanent promotion came quickly: to major in July. Fourteen years later, he got his permanent promotion to lieutenant colonel, in March 1934. In July 1938, he was promoted to permanent colonel. He resumed climbing via temporary ranks just prior to World War II, when he was temporarily promoted to brigadier general in October 1940 and to major general in April 1941.5

Temporary promotions were used widely during World War II (1941-1945). AR 605-12 (August 1944), Commissioned Officers: Temporary Promotions in the Army of the United States, states,

For the duration of the present emergency and excepting promotions in the Regular Army prescribed by statute, all promotions of officers of the Army will be temporary promotions. . . . The purpose of these regulations is to provide a means by which the officer who demonstrates the greatest degree of efficiency and capacity for increased responsibilities may be selected for a higher grade. These promotions required vacancies, and individuals considered for temporary promotion had to meet time in grade and position requirements. All promotions were authorized in the name of the President, but others with authority to promote included certain "commanding generals of overseas commands . . . [who] may delegate this authority down to and including commanders of field armies and numbered air forces."6

Patton continued to receive temporary and permanent promotions during the war: temporary lieutenant general (March 1943), permanent major general (August 1944, skipping permanent brigadier general), and permanent general (April 1945). He died in April 1946 as a result of a car accident.7

Dwight D. Eisenhower also received temporary promotions to meet the needs of the Army in World War II. He was promoted to permanent lieutenant colonel in 1936. He

5 Keane, Michael. Patton: Blood, Guts, and Prayer, p. xi-xiii. 6 AR 605-12 (August 1944). 7 Keane, Patton, p. xiv-xvi.

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received a temporary promotion to major general in March 1942, temporary promotion to lieutenant general July 1942, and temporary promotion to full general in February 1943. He received his permanent promotions to brigadier general and major general in August 1943. In December 1944, he was promoted to General of the Army. The temporary and permanent promotion system remained in place until the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act (DOPMA) of 1980 centralized promotions. Prior to DOPMA, temporary promotions were in the Army of the United States (AUS), while the permanent promotions were in the Regular Army.8

In 1954, in the wake of the Korean War, the Army codified battlefield promotions as "the temporary promotion of officers based upon their performance of duty in combat." Authority for such promotions rested in theater commanders who reported directly to the Department of the Army. Such commanders could promote to lieutenant colonel, major, captain, and first lieutenant. Promotions to first lieutenant could also be delegated to army, corps, and division commanders.9

The 1955 regulation noted that temporary appointments were "for indefinite periods and will not terminate permanent appointments in the Regular Army or reserve components. They may be terminated at any time by the Secretary of the Army in the name of the President and will automatically terminate upon relief from active duty." Selection for temporary promotion to captain, major, lieutenant colonel, and colonel would happen through a selection board.10

The 1960 regulation noted "authority to make temporary promotions below general officer grade may be delegated to specific major commanders and commanders of combat theaters of operations for the purpose of filling local grade vacancies, on the basis of demonstrated fitness and capacity to perform satisfactorily in the position

8 Eisenhower National Historical Site, Eisenhower Military Chronology, . "The Defense Officer Personnel Management Act of 1980: A Retrospective Assessment," RAND, 1993, 10, 89, 91.

9 AR 605-12 (1954). 10 AR 624-115 (August 1955).

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